And the River Flows
by fiction-goddes
Summary: This is a sequel to ‘Waking Feelings’. This sequel will also include hentai, shounen-ai and possibly even yaoi and yuri. The main characters are Kakashi and Sakura, supporting characters are Naruto, Sasuke, Ino and Iruka.
1. Chapter 1 Confusion Might Solve It

And the River Flows

This is a sequel to 'Waking Feelings'.

This sequel will also include hentail, shounen-ai and possibly even yaoi and yuri.

The main characters are Kakashi and Sakura, supporting characters are Naruto, Sasuke, Ino and Iruka. 

These characters do not belong to me, I just borrow them from time to time to let them have a good time and return them, satisfied, to their original owner.

I hope you enjoy the story, leave a review if you can.

Thanks a lot for reading!

Fiction-Goddes.

(This story was written for CrazyGirl05)

Chapter one – Confusion might solve it.

Even though Sakura still can't seem to comprehend what has happened, Sasuke having ended up with Naruto, her ending up with her sensei, Kakashi, she feels happier than ever before.

Kakashi is everything she could've hoped for, he is caring, loving and warm, not to mention, he isn't gay.

Although they have to keep their relationship a secret, it being illegal and all, they don't care.

Kakashi had once turned his whole kitchen into a private restaurant for just the two of them and Sakura, in her turn, had changed her bedroom into a cinema. That way they could still have dates without going out and being seen by everyone.

Sasuke and Naruto have so much of an easier life, she sometimes thinks, although everyone in the village thinks they're somewhat weird, they aren't in danger of getting caught because of illegal activities. Being gay is somewhat accepted in Konoha, loving minors isn't.

Tonight Sakura and Kakashi were watching some movies over at Sakura's place. Comfortable in each other's arms, placing butterfly kisses wherever they can and avoiding parents who come bursting into her room asking them if they want some tea.

Sakura's parents don't know about their relationship of course, around them, Sakura still acts like she's really depressed over Sasuke's relationship with Naruto and Kakashi told them he is there to cheer her up. 

They do have a slight suspicion that Sakura's parents know what is going on, but they are not really planning to test their luck on it.

After having watched a few movies, Kakashi says it's time to go home and even though Sakura is whining a little about that, she knows he can't stay over at her place either, one point being that it would stand out too much, the other that he still needs to visit Hokage-sama.

So he takes his leave, kissing Sakura one last time before he goes and Sakura is left behind, mesmerised as always when she is allowed to look upon his beautiful face.

Kakashi walks down the street, whistling a tune he heard in the movie, being completely happy with himself, loving every second of his life.

He draws his book from the pocket of his trousers and starts reading, imagining that everything in the book is actually happening between him and Sakura. And yes, it is indeed quite dirty.

In his absent-minded state, he is unable to notice that there is another person walking the streets at this hour and it isn't until he bumps into him that he finds out about it.

Both the men find themselves in hard contact with the ground beneath them and a loud clutter of falling objects reaches Kakashi's ears.

"A ta-ta-ta-ta… can't you watch out where you're going, dumb-ass?" he hears and he looks up, watching right into Iruka's startled brown eyes.

"Oh, Kakashi, I'm sorry, I didn't see it was you." He says, his voice suddenly sounding a lot less agitated and Kakashi could've sworn to see a blush on his cheeks. Maybe he should start wearing a mask too, he thinks with a slight smile. He offers his hand to the fallen Chuunin and helps him back on his feet. "It's difficult to see anything behind that enormous pile of books, Iruka, all homework from the academy students?" he asks, starting picking up the books and making a pile of them again. Iruka nods and helps Kakashi doing the work he was actually supposed to be doing alone.

"Yeah, seems like some of the students are actually being quite active in my class this year… they're further than any other class in the academy." He says with a warm smile, busy to avoid Kakashi's eye. 

Kakashi smiles back at him, although he knows Iruka can't see it because of the mask in front of his mouth. He's become so used to the fact that he can take it off whenever he's around Sakura, that he sometimes forgets he's wearing it in normal life.

"Need a hand with them? I can help you carry them back to your house." Kakashi suggests, knowing that Iruka would probably stumble again if he had to carry it all alone.

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly ask you to do so." Iruka says, raising his hands in front of him, but Kakashi can't help but notice the longing tone in his voice. No one would turn down an offer of help in this situation, he thinks.

He divides the pile in two smaller ones and carries one of them. Iruka stands there, string at him with open mouth. 

"Well come on, unless you rather I'd change my mind…" Kakashi says, gripping the books a bit tighter so they won't slide down his arms.

Iruka nods and hastily picks up the books. "Thanks a lot, Kakashi, you're a great help." He says, smiling broadly this time.

Kakashi nods. "You'd better remember that, because sooner or later, I'll come to collect." He says in a low voice, followed by another stumble from Iruka's side, he looks around, seeing him blushing furiously. He thinks back about his words. 'Come to collect…' could've been understood in two ways and he sniggers about it. Cute innocent Iruka would probably feel really embarrassed after hearing words like that.

They reach his house in no time, although it seemed like ages because of the heavy books in their arms and as soon as they've thrown them down on the table, they shake their painful arms and laugh openly at each other. 

"Well then, I suppose I should be on my way again." Kakashi says, waving his hand at Iruka and walking towards the door. As soon as his hand touches the doorknob, he feels a hand on his shoulder. He turns around, seeing Iruka in front of him once more, but the sight he is receiving is far from the sight he got before. Not longer does he seem like the self secure academy teacher in control of his students, nor does he seem like the innocent Iruka he knew, or even the Iruka who was embarrassed because he dropped his books after bumping in to the Jounin.

No, this Iruka looks shy, wearing his hair down in a messy way, with a determined glare in his eyes, although it gets shaded with fear. "Please don't leave just yet…" he whispers softly and he takes a step back from the Jounin so that he can see yet another change in his appearance.

Kakashi frowns a little as he notices that he is no longer wearing his Chuunin vest and that underneath it was a rather skin tight long sleeved shirt, which really shows how muscled the man actually is.

"Iruka, what the…" he asks, thinking he understands the intentions of the Chuunin all too well and he isn't sure if he likes it or not. Even more, he doesn't know what the hell he should do about it. 

Iruka smiles again, still the same, shy smile and his eyes look uncertain. "You still haven't figured it out yet?" he asks, hugging himself for support. "I like you… Kakashi… I like you a lot…" He walks up to the Jounin and kisses his mask-concealed cheek. When Kakashi just stands there, doing nothing, he decides it's time to take it one step up. He places his arms around Kakashi and hugs him tight, pressing his body firmly against the other man's.

"Iruka, you shouldn't be doing this." Kakashi finally says. 

Iruka steps back once more, looking into the Jounin's one eye with great disappointment. "I'm sorry…" he whispers, turning around again, so that Kakashi is now facing his back. "I thought I had a chance, seeing you're still single and I never really see you dating anyone… I was hoping you would want to give this kind of relationship a chance… I've liked you ever since the first time I saw you. So carefree, lazy, lecturing me… You looked so nice that day, wearing your ANBU outfit and your hair so messy…" suddenly, he stops talking, his body freezing as if he finally understood what he was doing. He shakes his head. "You should really be going now." He says, turning around his closed eyes, but at that exact moment he feels a pair of soft, tender lips on his own, followed by a rustle and a quickly closed door.

He opens his eyes and is just in time to witness Kakashi running down the street through his window. His face flushes over and he touches his lips with shaking fingers. What the hell just happened? He wonders, Kakashi had just told him he shouldn't be trying this and yet… why did he kiss him? He curses himself for having his eyes closed; this would've been the perfect chance for him to have seen the man's face entirely. 

Yet he feels so happy about what happened he can't help but laugh out loud and dropping himself on the bed, thinking about what happened and what else might happen in his perverted mind.

Kakashi reaches his house, breathing hard and cursing himself. What did he do? Did he really just kiss Iruka? He shakes his head, trying to get the feeling out of his system, it felt strange, nice and it gave him a certain tingle. He has only felt it before with Sakura, and of course, as a kid with Rin, but those two were girls, there's just no way on earth that he's now falling for guys as well! He won't believe that.

He's with Sakura, he loves her, he knows he does, and then there's Iruka, with his twisted love, gay love, no way he will ever indulge himself into something like that.

He yells a little and throws his front door shut. 

Not only had this confession make him feel extremely awkward, it had made him feel happy in some way, it had made his body react a little, the words caused butterflies in his stomach and that kiss… he doesn't want to think about it, it had caused trouble from below, and he still doesn't understand why. 

He sighs and undresses, maybe he should just go to sleep, forget about what happened and wish that it will never happen again. 

He lies down on his bed, closing his eyes and thinking about Sakura.

Sakura lies in her bed, thinking happy thoughts about Kakashi and watching the flower he gave her today. As she looks at it, it loses a leaf and her eyes open wide.

She had learned about this during the Kunoichi classes. It's a premonition.


	2. Chapter 2 The Step Overtaken

Chapter 2 – The Step Overtaken

Chapter 2 – The Step Overtaken.

The morning came and still Kakashi did not find an answer to his disturbed feelings.

All night he had dreamed about both Sakura and Iruka, and images came popping up, showing Sasuke and Naruto at the moment he found out about their secret. 

He shakes his head, cursing himself for getting confused about one little confession.

But then again, it didn't stay with just that confession; he DID kiss him after all. What is he supposed to do now? Should he tell Sakura about it? She would probably take it entirely the wrong way, she had been in love with Sasuke before after all, and he ended up with Naruto, a definite male. Surely, he would never do the same, but still, Sakura might not see it that way. There's no way he will tell her, he will not hurt her like that.

As if it were meant for his thoughts to be disturbed, there's a knock on the door.

"Kakashi-sensei, its morning!" a sweet girl's voice sounds through the door.

Sakura-chan! Kakashi jumps out of bed and runs towards the door, his heart pounding, he sure hopes he won't be saying anything weird today.

He opens the door and Sakura walks inside, she gives Kakashi a quick kiss on his cheek and smiles at his appearance. "Sensei, its ten o'clock in the morning and you're still not dressed." She says, trying to sound strict, but her voice shows a hint of amusement.

Kakashi looks down his own body; indeed, he's still only wearing a boxer short. Suddenly feeling really aware of his body, he decides to put on some clothes. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan, I didn't know you were coming." He says as an excuse.

Sakura looks disappointed. "But surely you remember we were supposed to be hanging out together today?" she wonders.

Kakashi thinks back, past his memories of Iruka, past the time he was walking down the street, back to Sakura's house and a certain promise he had made back then. 

Yes, he did promise to see her today. He mentally smacks himself because of his forgetfulness and makes up his mind to only be thinking about Sakura, at least for now, the rest of his problems can be solved at a later time.

"I remember now… I'm sorry." He whispers, stroking Sakura's cheek.

Sakura gives him a calculating look. "Why are you apologising this much?" she asks, knowing that guys usually have something to hide in a case like that.

Kakashi feels the need to mentally smack him self once more and understands that he'll have to act differently from his current behaviour. 

He walks up to Sakura. "Nothing to worry about, really, just felt the need to apologise for forgetting about you for a second…" he answers her question and he kisses her, hard, so that she won't be able to reply. 

Sakura makes a strange noise and for a second she tries to break free from his grip, but after a while, she sags into his arms and kisses him back.

'This feels right.' 

Kakashi deepens the kiss, letting his tongue explore the young girl's mouth, Sakura happily obliging. 

'It really does feel right.'

He pulls Sakura closer, feeling her body against his; it stirs something inside his pants.

'See, it's all good.'

He breaks away from the kiss in need of air, his heart pounding fast, and blushing bright red. 

"Kakashi-sensei…" Sakura whispers in a soft voice, looking at her sensei with some amazement. One moment they were having a conversation, the next moment they were kissing as if their lives depended on it.

Kakashi smiles at her. "I really wanted to do that…" he whispers, his voice sounding somewhat weird.

Sakura smirks, seeing his current looks, there's a lot more he would probably like to do. 

The thought scares her a little, she never even thought about that possibility yet, except with Sasuke of course and the circumstances would be completely different.

"Is something the matter?" Kakashi asks, seeing a sudden look of doubt on her face, he walks over to her and puts a hand on her shoulder; she quickly pulls away from him.

She stares at the ground. "Nothing's the matter, really." She says, trying to sound normal.

Kakashi stares at her, not buying a word of what she's saying, he puts a finger under Sakura's chin and lifts her face up to make her look into his eye.

He notices her eyes wandering down his body, checking out a certain spot on it and he suddenly feels very uncomfortable. She actually noticed him getting slightly aroused because of that kiss, and now she's probably afraid he wants to take things up a step.

His mind shows images of them doing such things for a second, but he quickly shoves the thoughts away. "Sakura, I don't think it's the time for those things just yet." He says with a gentle smile. Sakura smiles back at him, seemingly relieved.

"Your body seems to suggest otherwise." She jokes, nodding towards his still half-hard member. Kakashi shrug's his shoulders. "Ignore my body and its stupidity, male bodies only think of one thing, its mind can do various other things as well." He says, cocking an eyebrow.

This makes Sakura laugh. "Alright then, maybe I should just ignore it." She says, knowing that ignoring Kakashi's body is rather difficult, no matter how much she tells herself she is not yet ready for the sex thing, her eyes keep being drawn to Kakashi as he finishes getting dressed. 

He really does look great, muscled, fair skin… would it be soft if she touched his body? Would the muscles make it feel hard? And man, what a cute butt does the guy have… 

She notices she's blushing and she quickly looks the other way. 

Kakashi finished dressing himself and walks back to Sakura, sitting down beside her on his bed. "So… any ideas for today?" he asks, knowing he has none.

Sakura shakes her head. "Hardly any, I know I've got some things I need to do, but in order for that, we need to go outside…" she says, looking a little sad.

Why do things have to be so difficult?

"Well… we can't stay inside forever; we would die from lack of sunshine…" Kakashi says, yet another joke, maybe he's finally getting back to his original self.

Sakura smiles again. "Well then, I need to go grocery shopping for my mother." She says.

Kakashi puts his mask on, glad that his grimace went unnoticed because of it. 

Grocery shopping, something he rather much hates, ah well, he thinks, maybe it's more fun when Sakura's around. "Let's go." He says, opening the door for Sakura.

Once they walk through Konoha together, they notice that not many people are having attention for them, seems like students and teachers walking together doesn't raise that much suspicion. But then again, Gai and Lee do it all the time, so people must be quite used to it by now. Kakashi thinks, seeing an image of those two whenever they are together. He shivers, no way he would ever get used to that.

Grocery shopping went faster than expected, seems like Sakura isn't quite the type to linger around in stores all too much. At least, not in stores like these.

Kakashi's silently grateful for it, as they deliver the bough items to Sakura's mother, she smiles at him again. "Well, that's it for the shopping, thanks so much for helping me out there, Kakashi-sensei." She says happily and after that, she makes a quick stop for the toilet, in which Kakashi is drawn into the kitchen by Sakura's mother. "Thank you so much for taking care of my girl, Kakashi-san." She says, bowing slightly. 

Kakashi strokes the back of his head with his hand as he starts feeling a bit uneasy. "No problem at all, Haruno-san, it's the least I could do seeing the circumstances." He says formally.

Sakura's mother shakes her head. "I don't know…" she says, drifting off into thoughts.

This makes Kakashi even more insecure. What would she be thinking of? 

"Kakashi-san, I would like to ask you a question and I would like you to be honest about it." She says in a demanding way.

Kakashi swallows hard, feeling like running away. "Of course, what is it?" he asks, trying to keep his voice under control.

"Do you like my daughter? Or rather… does she like you back?" her mother then asks, her voice sounding calm and casual.

Kakashi seems to think about that question for a moment, it can be meant in many ways. "Well, I suppose that if we didn't like each other in some way, we wouldn't be hanging out together this often, so if that's your question, I think your daughter is a really kind girl." He decides to say, being pretty sure that this is not what she meant.

And indeed, Sakura's mother shakes her head. "It's not entirely what I mean actually." She admits. "I mean it more like… do you two have feelings for each other that go further than just friendship?" 

Kakashi feels like he's about to choke on his mask, but manages to sound like he's just shocked because of the question. "What?" he asks.

Sakura's mother turns her back on him. "If that's the case, I would like to know… it's not like I would stop it. You're being good to her; you're there for her and… I know my little girl, if she likes someone, she can't stop talking about him, she always did so with Sasuke and now she's doing the same with you. Please be honest with me, I will not disagree on it." She whispers, sounding like it's an immensely difficult thing to say.

Kakashi feels like he's being cornered, but at that moment, Sakura comes waltzing into the kitchen. "So here you are." She says happily, walking up to Kakashi and grabbing his arm.

Kakashi gives her a startled look and Sakura winks at him. "I thought we should be going soon, you promised me to go to your place and watch that new romantic movie with me." She says, lying every word of it as she makes it up.

"You two are watching romantic movies together?" Sakura's mother asks, turning around to face the two again.

Sakura nods, pushing herself closer to Kakashi, hugging his arm even more. 

It seems that this in enough of an answer to Sakura's mother, she nods and smiles. 

"I won't forgive you if you hurt her, you know." She says, pointing a spoon at Kakashi's throat. "No funny stuff." 

Kakashi looks at the spoon, thinking it looks a lot more dangerous than it normally does.

"Yes ma'am, I'll keep her safe." He says, sounding like he's talking to an army commander.

Sakura's mother nods and sends them off. 

As soon as they are out on the streets again, Kakashi wonders if he really did promise to watch a romantic movie with her, but before he can ask, Sakura starts talking: "Well, one obstacle away, we won't have to keep secrets for her anymore." She says with a smile, she looks up at Kakashi, seeing his slightly confused eye. "I overheard you talking." She explains.

Kakashi nods. "I figured as much. Come on, I want to give you a little present for your courage." He says, his eye closing into a smile.

Sakura blushes and nods. 

They enter the Yamanaka Flower shop and Kakashi asks for a single white rose. 

Ino, who's standing behind the counter, stares at Sakura, who can't hide her blush. 

"Kyaaah! I can't believe it!!" Ino shouts, jumping over the counter and patting Sakura on her shoulder. "Nice going girl! You and Kakashi!" she says happily.

Both Sakura and Kakashi look highly uncomfortable, if they had known Ino would be here today, they would never have come to this shop.

Ino seems to understand what's going on and she nods. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. I do understand the difficulty of the situation." She says seriously.

Kakashi nods, looking immensely relieved. 

By the time they finally leave the centre of Konoha, the sun is starting to set. 

"I think I should be going home now." Sakura whispers, smiling sadly at Kakashi.

Kakashi nods, feeling the urge to ask her to stay over at his place tonight, but somehow he thinks she won't appreciate that just yet, so he lets her take her leave. 

"I'll see you tomorrow during our mission." He says with a warm voice, pulling her behind a building and hugging her tightly. Sakura nods and hugs back; she quickly kisses him on his mask-concealed face and runs off, leaving Kakashi behind in the alley.

He walks home, humming softly. 

As soon as he has reached his front door, he finds someone standing there.

"Yo, Kakashi-san." The man says.

"Iruka-sensei, what are you doing here?" Kakashi asks, feeling fear deep in his heart.

Iruka pushes his body away from the door. "Just wanted to talk to you." He says casually, waiting for Kakashi to invite him in.

Kakashi nods and lets him enter his house.

"What did you want to talk about?" he asks, knowing it already in his heart, this is going to be one hell of a conversation.

He sits down on the bed and waits for Iruka to start talking.

Iruka closes the door behind him and shakes his head. "I just want to talk about what happened yesterday. You turned me down, and then you suddenly kiss me and run away… what am I supposed to think of that?" he asks, walking up to Kakashi to sit beside him.

Kakashi shakes his head. "It means that I don't know." He admits, thinking of Sakura, how he feels when he's around her, how he feels now he's around Iruka.

Iruka sighs. "I see…" he whispers, he looks sad.

Kakashi looks at him; he hates it when Iruka looks sad. It feels like he can't control his own actions as he bows his head towards him, taking off his mask and kissing the guy, passionately on his mouth.

Iruka lets out a surprised yelp, but is quick to return the kiss, leaning towards Kakashi with his whole body, craving for more.

As soon as they both break away from the kiss, Iruka is quick to look down at the rest of his face, but he should not have hurried, Kakashi is not even making an attempt to put his mask back on.

'So beautiful…' Iruka thinks, staring at the man's mouth, the lips that just kissed him.

His heart is racing now he can finally look at Kakashi's full face. 

He makes up his mind and kisses those lips again, not wanting to lose the touch. 

This time it's Kakashi who is surprised, not because of the kiss, he had expected that, but because he suddenly finds his back in contact with the mattress. Iruka had pushed him over so that he is now lying on top of him.

Kakashi can feel the man's body heat, the friction as the body moves against him. Some rather hard object that is pushing against his thigh, stimulating his own, not yet fully erect member. It makes him nervous; he can't do this, not now, not yet! His mind works at top speed, what should he do? But before his mind has made up an answer, his body has pushed Iruka off him. 

Iruka looks at him with that hurt look in his eyes again. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that." He whispers.

Kakashi shakes his head. "It's okay, I did encourage you a lot there…" he admits, putting an arm around Iruka and pulling him back down on the bed again, just laying there, in each other's arms, this will give Kakashi enough time to get to understand his feelings a bit better.


	3. Chapter 3 Trouble in Paradise

Chapter 3 – Trouble in Paradise

The next morning Kakashi wakes up, feeling an arm around his body and hearing someone snore slightly. He frowns; Sakura wouldn't snore, would she? But then again, he never invited Sakura over to stay at his place, nor would she want to do this.

Then who is snoring beside him? Who does this arm belong to?

A bit frightened, he looks around, his fears soon become reality when he sees Iruka right next to him. 'Ah man…' he thinks, nudging the man so that he wakes up.

How did he get in to this mess, he wonders. Somewhere in his still sleepy mind he recalls Iruka standing in front of his house when he got home. He remembers that he invited him in and… oh no… did they really kiss? Did it really almost escalate into something else? He quickly looks down to reinsure himself that he's still wearing clothes. Good, he thinks, at least he didn't really do 'the act' with him, that would really screw up relations between him and Iruka, as well as with him and Sakura.

Sakura! No, not again! How the hell does he get drawn into this kind of stuff all the time?

He sighs and gets out of bed, hardly daring to look at the Chuunin who is just waking up.

"Kakashi-san?" Iruka asks, pushing himself up on the pillow.

Kakashi doesn't answer and quickly washes his face so that it doesn't really look as if he's avoiding the man. "I've got a mission." he finally decides to say. "The team is probably waiting for me already."

"What time is it?" Iruka wants to know, looking at the alarm. It's 9:30 already! He's late for work! He quickly jumps out of bed and washes his face as well. He notices how Kakashi backs away from him as if he's something scary. "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have stayed…" he whispers, knowing all too well that the man is insecure about his feelings, although he doesn't have the slightest idea why that might be. "You fell asleep and I was really tired… I wanted to be…" he shakes his head, not wanting to speak the words. He wanted to be with him, that much is true, but the situation is awkward enough as it is.

"I'm sorry, I really need to go now." Kakashi simply says, he opens the door for Iruka to leave and so he does, trying to steal a glimpse of the man's face as he goes, but Kakashi doesn't look at him. As soon as he's gone, Kakashi closes the door. He knows that he has to leave, but he can't go on a mission like this, he can't face Sakura right now, he feels way too guilty. Even though nothing has happened, he did spend the night with a man, in the same bed, cuddling and all.

What the hell was he thinking?

With a sigh, he opens the door again, knowing that he really does have to leave now. Not that he's normally on time, but he doesn't want to let the team wait either.

What the hell was he thinking… he can't push the thought away, he can't think of anything else. Why didn't he just simply stop the man from kissing him, why did he kiss Iruka? Why did it feel good? Too many questions, not enough answers. He knows he needs to solve it out, he knows he has to stop seeing Iruka, but the situation has gone too far, Iruka probably thinks he's into him now, what if he told him that he doesn't like him? What if he told him that he's actually seeing Sakura and that he can't see Iruka for that reason?

Surely Iruka wouldn't appreciate that, he's a fragile soul to begin with, he might feel hurt, betrayed, he might hate him after that, or worse, report the matter to Tsunade-sama.

Kakashi grimaces, no, that's not good. Yet he can't keep doing this, if he keeps seeing Iruka, something bad might happen, something he doesn't intend to do, merely because his body wishes him to do just those things.

It'd maddening, he told Sakura that he isn't into men, that he's 100% sure that he likes women, he reads about them all the time, he always gets aroused over it, so why would it be any other way? He groans and shakes his head, he can't quite lay a finger on it, but for some reason, his mind, body and heart aren't exactly telling him the same things.

"Good morning Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto's hyperactive voice reaches his ears as it always does and it wakes him from his maddening thoughts. He looks up to see the smiling faces of his pupils. Even Sasuke is smiling, which has become more and more standard these days.

"Morning." Kakashi simply says, not being his lively self. "So… today we are supposed to go to the Fire Country, the Feudal Lord needs an escort and we are assigned to do so."

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura eye him with some minor amazement. Normally, Kakashi would show up with some kind of pitiful excuse for being late, but today he doesn't seem to be in the mood to do so. Naruto and Sasuke merely shrug their shoulders, deciding not to ask questions about it, thinking there might be trouble in paradise for him and Sakura or something, but Sakura doesn't wish to leave this weird moment be.

As soon as they've started walking towards the borders of Konoha, she walks up to him. "What's the matter, Kakashi, you're acting a little weird today." she tells him. "Come to think of it, you were acting a little strange yesterday as well." She looks at Kakashi, trying to judge his reaction; there is none.

"I haven't really slept all that well the last couple of days… I'm a bit tired." he simply says, not blinking his eye nor showing any sort of emotion. Sakura looks at him more intentionally. "Are you sure about that? Because if there's something wrong, I'd like to know." he presses.

Kakashi shakes his head. No, she doesn't really want to know this, she really wouldn't like knowing about this. Who would? He's not even sure if he likes it. "Don't worry so much, Sakura, I'm fine, really." he says in a reassuring way. He detests himself for lying to her, but the truth would hurt her a lot more.

Sakura nods. "Alright then." she says with a smile.


	4. Chapter 4 The Scheme

Hey people!

I'm immensely sorry about not updating my story for such a long time!

I would like to thank Animelover07 for sending me the review that woke me up and told me that I still needed to finish this story! As for your review: I can't promise a thing, but I'll hope you'll like the story whatever the outcome will be (I can't promise anything because I haven't thought of an ending yet... I'm thinking it up as I go along...)

Anyways, here's the fourth chapter of my story, I hope you enjoy! Leave a review if you can please!!

The scheme

Lies! All lies! Sakura is back at home and throws her pillow against the wall. For the last hour she had been throwing out anything Kakashi had given her so far, the only thing that is still reminding her if him at this point is the flower that had lost one leaf. The premonition. Kunoichi class had once again been correct.

There is a knock on her door and even though Sakura is not in the mood to talk to anyone, she knows she can't hide from her mother. "Enter..." she says with a sigh and she sits down on the bed.

Her mother enters the room, carrying a tray with a teapot and two cups, apparently she wishes to talk to her. She puts the tray on the small table beside her bed and sits down next to her daughter.

Sakura wishes she would just leave and merely stares at the opposite wall.

"Are you alright, Sakura?" her mother asks, she sounds sincerely frightened for the wellbeing of her daughter.

Sakura looks around her half demolished room, that would be enough indication that everything is not alright, but she decides that lying is better in any way because that might make her leave sooner. "I'm fine mom." she says in a monotone voice, she tries to put up a smile, but she can't get further than a shaky grin and that doesn't seem to convince her mother.

"Come on girl, you know that if there's one person you can't lie to, it'd be me. I've known you your whole life!" her mother says, making a very valid point.

"I don't mean to lie..." Sakura says, her heart pounding, there have been enough lies already. Without warning, her tears flow from her eyes and she can't stop her mouth from telling her mother the whole story. Her mother pours her tea and listens intently.

Kakashi lies on his bed, he had sent Iruka away after that kiss, saying he really needed time to think. Yes, that made Iruka sad, yes, that made Iruka angry, but what else could he do? He wasn't about to cheat on Sakura any longer, he just needs to find a way to tell Iruka this news. How can he? Especially after what happened today, there is no way he could possibly tell the Chuunin that he does not want to continue this... whatever it is that is going on between them. Yet he knows he wants to continue being with Sakura, he loves her and she loves him. Also, she has been hurt more than enough, she shouldn't be hurt any more, she is too special for that, too precious for him.

Yet another knock on his door startles him from his strange thoughts and he stands up, walking towards the door. If it's Iruka again, what should he do? He shakes his head, he'll just make it up as he goes along. He opens the door and for a moment it looks as if there's no one there, but then he looks down and notices a small boy with a guilty grin on his face, he looks as if he's expecting a beating. "Yes, Konohamaru, what can I do for you?" Kakashi asks. Konohamaru stress at his feet and doesn't know what to say exactly. "I found out a secret today..." he manages to say after a while. Kakashi cocks an eyebrow and says: "Really? What did you find out, Konohamaru?"

Konohamaru looks up at the Jounin and swallows nervously. "I... there was a letter... in the classroom... from Iruka-sensei... for you..." he murmurs. "It said something about being in love with you and... k-kissing you... and stuff..." he tries to look everywhere except for at the towering Jounin and he can feel tension building up.

Kakashi sighs. "I see." he merely says. "What about that letter?"

Konohamaru looks at him. "So it's true then?" he wonders, but after a quick glance at the Jounin's warning eye, he shakes his head and continues. "I secretly read that letter... and got caught by Iruka-sensei..." he takes a deep breath. "Iruka-sensei became really angry at me and started yelling... I tried to apologies, but he just kept yelling at me... and then I got angry..." he tries to justify his own actions, he doesn't want Kakashi to get angry at him. "Naruto had let me in on yet another secret... about you and Sakura... and ehm... I sort of told Iruka-sensei about that..."

Konohamaru looks ready to flee at any time, but Kakashi seems to stay calm. That seems to set Konohamaru a little more at ease. "So... I came here to warn you about that..." he says softly. "Iruka-sensei wasn't really all too happy with the news..."

Kakashi sniggers a little. "You're a bit late, Konohamaru, Iruka-sensei has already visited me about that. But I appreciate your honesty." he says. Konohamaru breaths a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you're not angry with me, Kakashi-sensei." he says. "I should go home now... I'm not allowed to leave the house at this hour." he tells him and he runs away.

Kakashi shakes his head in disbelief and closes the door. Well, at least now he knows how Iruka found out about all this.

That night, Sakura lies in her bed, not ready to go to sleep just yet.

Her mother had given her a very strange option that she would never have dared to hear from her.

Plot a scheme to find out about Kakashi's true intentions. She could do that, of course, she could try to do something that would throw Kakashi off guard, that would make him reconsider his feelings. She could also just confront him with the truth, but for some reason, she thinks that would just scare him off, or else make him choose her while his real feelings are still all jumbled up.

The problem is: she can't really think of a scheme that would make him think about what he's doing. Maybe she should ask help from some friends. Ino, Naruto and Sasuke are all friends that know about her and Kakashi, maybe she could ask for their help. Yes, she'll ask them tomorrow.

Content with her scheming so far, her eyes finally close and she drifts off into a wild night of sleep filled with kisses and guys touching guys and anger and deceit.

The next morning, she wakes up, feeling just as tired as the night before and possibly even more fixed on revenge. She eats a quick breakfast, gets dressed, does her hair and make-up and then runs up to Naruto's house. After knocking ten times, which is usually enough to wake him up, she is quite assured that he's not home. With a frown on her forehead, she decides to go over to Ino.

The Yamanaka flower shop is opened already and Sakura hopes that Ino doesn't have to work today so that they can talk quietly.

For once, her hopes are realised when she sees Ino's mother standing behind the counter.

"Sakura-chan! How lovely to see you again!" she says. Sakura manages to smile at her and then asks: "Is Ino home? I'd like to talk to her." Ino's mother nods. "Yes dear, she's probably still in her bedroom getting dressed or something."

Sakura nods and thanks the woman before running into the house and up to what she knows to be Ino's bedroom. She knows a few times and hears: "Enter!" Sakura storms into the room and nearly bumps into Ino in the process. Ino starts to laugh for a moment. "Take it easy, Sakura, the last time I saw you this hyperactive was when you had just found out about Naruto and Sasuke." she says, but then her smile leaves her face. "What's wrong?"

Sakura starts pacing up and down the room, telling Ino everything she had heard and seen last evening. Ino listens intently, feeling quite sorry for the girl she had so often seen as her biggest rival. When Sakura gets to the part where she tells about the scheme she is trying to plan, Ino starts to grin broadly. "That's my Sakura! I finally start to recognise you again!" she says appreciatively. Sakura smiles a little as well. "So you'll help me?" she asks and Ino nods. "Count on it, wouldn't miss it for the world. So you said that you wanted Naruto and Sasuke to be in on it as well?" she asks, now starting to pace as well as she tries to think of a scheme of some sort.

Sakura nods back. "Yes, I have to work with them a lot, they'll notice if something is wrong, so I might just as well tell them... plus they have ehm... firsthand experience with the gay stuff and all. Naruto isn't home though, I've already checked." she keeps pacing in Ino's opposite direction.

"Of course he isn't..." Ino immediately says. "He spends almost every night over at the Uchiha residence, seeing as it's bigger than his own house." Sakura chuckles, of course, she could've known. "Let's go over there then." she decides.

They make a quick stop at Sakura's house, informing her mother that they are going ahead with the scheme and that Kakashi can't know that anything's wrong, but that he should, instead be overwhelmed with compliments about how good he is to Sakura and how glad her mother is that he is her boyfriend. Sakura's mother winces a moment, but then nods and winks at the two of them. "Count on it to be done."

After that, Sakura and Ino leave for the Uchiha residence. Once they've arrived, they knock on the door, there is a quick rustle and a hastily yelled 'just a minute!' and after a few seconds a half dressed Sasuke opens the door. "Sakura, Ino, quite the surprise, I wasn't aware that we had a mission today?" he asks, sounding disturbed.

Sakura and Ino look at each other for a moment and grin, they don't even wish to know in what way the boys were disturbed. "It might be called a private mission." Ino simply says and after a quick explanation the two girls are invited in. Naruto just exits the bedroom, looking at the two girls and greeting them with a casual wave of his hand. After Naruto is also informed on the situation, they sit down at the table to discuss their options.

Kakashi wakes up, feeling quite lonely. Maybe Sakura would be available for some leisure time. It would certainly distract his guilty mind and it would help him fortify his decision. With a quick nod he puts on some casual clothing and he leaves for Sakura's place, stopping on his way to pick up a box of her favourite chocolate.

With a quick knock on the door and a deep breath, he waits to be allowed entrance. When the door opens, however, it is Sakura's mother who answers. "Kakashi-san! What a nice surprise!" she says, sounding sincerely surprised at him being there. Kakashi chuckles a little. "I know, Sakura and I didn't plan on meeting today, but I was hoping she would be available for a little date or something." He says, rubbing the back of his head.

Sakura's mother looks a bit saddened. "I'm very sorry, Kakashi, I'm afraid she's not home right now, she's out with Ino." She tells him, not sure whether or not she is feeling sorry for this man, in all sincerity, she feels somewhat close to strangling this man for hurting her only daughter.

Kakashi nods, sighing a heavy sigh. "Well, in that case, would you care for a box of chocolate? It's Sakura's favourite, but I hope you'll enjoy it as well." He says with a slight smile, from which he knows it will not be seen. Sakura's mother looks at the box of chocolate and smiles back at him. "Kakashi-san, I'm flattered!" she says, taking the box out of his hand. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were hitting on me!" it was not meant as a joke, even though she did put it as one, it was meant to sincerely hurt the man with his own incompetence to keep his hormones in check.

"It was not meant as an attempt to hit on you, Haruno-san." Kakashi says with a slight chuckle, one seduction a day is more than enough.

"I know, I know. You would never do that to my little girl, I trust you to be a fine boyfriend, else I would never have allowed you near my daughter." Sakura's mother says to make matters worse. It seems to have worked, Kakashi grows rigid for a moment before turning away. "Will you tell Sakura I've stopped by?" he asks with his back turned on the woman. "Of course dear, I'll tell her as soon as she gets home!" she says with a happy voice.

Kakashi nods and walks away. That visit did not help his feelings much. Apparently, Sakura's mother has such a high standard of him that just being around her hurts him more than he'd expected. She trusts him near her daughter, thinks that he's a trustworthy boyfriend, while all he believes himself to be right now is a downright failure as one. He should neither be trusted or allowed to come near Sakura.

He makes up his mind and walks over to the academy. Iruka is no doubt teaching there right now, but it's almost time for recess so he'll just wait out his time before telling him to stay out of his love life.

When he reaches the gates of the school, he notices Sasuke and Naruto standing there, they're having his back to him and are whispering about something. He sneaks closer, curiosity taking over from his common sense to walk up to them and greet them.

"You can't be serious though..." Sasuke says, sounding astounded and close to laughter. Naruto shakes his head vigorously. "Yes, I've seen it with my own eyes!" he says. Sasuke shakes his head and folds his arms. "Well, if you're right, we should really tell Kakashi-sensei." He says softly, sounding a lot more serious. Kakashi edges a little closer, what's going on? What would be happening? Naruto makes some sort of disagreeing noise. "I don't know... he fell in love with Sakura, he told her he'd never leave her, didn't he? Well, what he actually said was that he would never become gay..." this makes both Sasuke and Naruto laugh for a moment. "That's not something you can promise, either you are or you aren't." Sasuke admits, knowing firsthand how true it is. Naruto nods. "Well anyway, he has made that promise and yet..." he falls silent once more. Kakashi would love to disconnect his ears from his body in order to edge even closer without being spotted. What's the matter with Sakura? Does she know anything? Do Naruto and Sasuke know about what has happened between him and Iruka? Maybe Konohamaru had come to apologise to Naruto as well. But what is it that he should know then? That Sakura knows about him and Iruka? He shakes his head and decides to listen to the rest of the story. "And yet it appears that Sakura has reverted to the other side?" Sasuke finishes Naruto's sentence.

Naruto folds his arms. "Well, it sure looked like that from where I was standing, they were being very... familiar with each other, like they were just... beginning something... remember how that was with us? I'm telling you, it was the same with them!" he's nearly shouting now.

Kakashi feels his vision spinning for a moment. He was being terrified for something that might not even be necessary? If Sakura turns out as a lesbian, she would want to stay with Ino, so in that case, he wouldn't have to hurt anyone and he could safely choose Iruka.

He turns away from the academy gates and walks back over to his house, deep in thoughts.

From the window of a certain classroom, Iruka looks down upon the thoughtful Jounin and smiles. Maybe some time soon, he will come back for him.

Naruto and Sasuke watch their sensei walk away, slight grins on their faces. "Step one of our private mission is complete. You'd better go and tell Sakura, I'll follow Kakashi and monitor his movements. If anything changes I'll let you know. Be ready for the unexpected." Sasuke says, immediately sneaking after Kakashi in a very stealthy way. Naruto nods and runs over to Sakura's house where she hopefully informed her mother of what they are planning to do.

Sakura's mother looks really doubtful "Are you sure about this? I mean, it's a really big thing to do?" she asks her daughter. Sakura and Ino nod. "Yes, it is, but what better way is there to make Kakashi think about what he has done, or is doing, than by making him experience the same thing?" Ino tells Sakura's mother. Sakura's mother nods. "So basically, you want to pretend like you're having a starting relationship with Ino, you're still quite insecure about those feelings and you don't wish to inform Kakashi until you're sure about your feelings for Ino." Sakura's mother sums up. Sakura nods. "Do I know about all this?" Sakura's mother now asks. Both Sakura and Ino shake their heads. "You don't have a clue, you continue liking Kakashi and try to act as ignorant as possible." Sakura says with a chuckle. Sakura's mother grins widely. "I might just enjoy my part in this." She admits. "Care for a chocolate?" she offers the two girls the box of chocolates Kakashi had dropped off earlier. A quick knock on the door draws their attention and Sakura goes over to answer it. "Naruto." She says happily. "Come on in. I just finished informing my mother of our plan." Naruto nods and walks inside. "I hope you can agree on it." He says with a slight smile. Sakura's mother replies with a devious grin of her own. "Oh yes, I think I'll enjoy my part in this play quite a lot." She says, rubbing her hands together as if she's getting ready for battle.

Naruto nods and turns towards Sakura and Ino. "The bait has been placed, Kakashi heard everything we were saying and left, seemingly quite in thought about what he had just heard. Sasuke is following him, we should probably get ready for the next step." He says, sounding somewhat like a military officer. Ino and Sakura look at each other. "Well, in that case, I'll be going home, I'll see you once the time has come." Ino says, patting Sakura casually on her shoulder. Sakura grins, getting hold of Ino's arm and turning her around. "You can count on that, lover." She says in a played fashion, pulling Ino into her arms.

"Now you're getting the hang of it!" Naruto says, laughing out loud.

Ino breaks loose of the embrace and runs out of the house, narrowly avoiding the doorpost as she goes. "I don't believe she was expecting that." Sakura's mother says and from the tone of her voice, she didn't really expect this either.

Kakashi has reached his house and steps inside. The walk home has changed his feelings considerably. He can't quite believe that Sakura would fall in love with a woman, especially not after what happened to her with Naruto and Sasuke. Maybe what is happening is because of all that has happened to her before. She did really love Sasuke after all and she had always been under the impression that Naruto loved her. Maybe her feelings of insecurity towards men had prompted her to make this decision. Then again, her insecurity wouldn't grow if she knew what was going on between him and Iruka of course.

Besides that, there is also the possibility that Naruto misread Sakura and Ino's intentions, but from what he knows about Naruto's judge of character, it seems unlikely that Naruto had misread the signals.

He sits down on a kitchen chair ruffling his hair and groaning loudly. This could simplify matters immensely, he could allow Sakura to choose for Ino and he wouldn't have to hurt anyone, but does he really want to end up with Iruka? Even worse, could he really leave Sakura? The thought of saying goodbye to her really hurts him a lot. He shakes his head, not knowing exactly what to make of this entire situation. He stands up and walks towards the door, but then changes his mind and he walks back to the living room. Thinking for just one moment, he decides to do something he probably shouldn't do. He's going to ask Sakura to join her on a date downtown. Dinner in a fancy restaurant, maybe a movie in a real cinema. He leaves the house and walks down the street, not in a hurry, his messed up brains might well be throwing some sense at him somewhere halfway on route to Sakura's house. In his busy thinking state he misses Sasuke running past him on the roof of a city block.

Sasuke reaches Sakura's house and knocks three times. Sakura opens the door and merely nods. It's time to act, she now knows. She sends Sasuke and Naruto away and runs up to her bedroom, changing her clothes and re-doing her hair, she'll have to look as if she's planning on having a nice night with someone.

She's finished in record time, but she doesn't go downstairs just yet, instead she paces up and down the room, feeling more and more insecure about this plan with every single second that passes.

Finally she sums up the courage to go downstairs, just on time to hear yet another knock on the door. Seeing as both Naruto and Sasuke have been here already, it can only mean that it will be Kakashi this time. She runs down the stairs and opens the door, her heart immediately jumping towards her chest when she sees Kakashi in his very casual outfit of tight jeans, t-shirt and short sleeved jacket. Instead of commenting about it, however, she acts shocked. "Kakashi...! What are you doing here?" she asks, pretending to feel just a little bit guilty.

Kakashi cocks an eyebrow. "I was planning to ask you out on a date, but it appears that I have startled you somehow." He has a bad feeling about this. Sakura looks gorgeous, too nice for a casual night out with friends.

Sakura stares at the floor. "I'm so sorry, Kakashi, I've made other plans for tonight." She says, sounding apologetic. Kakashi stares intently at her. "I see, what kind of plans?" he wishes to know.

Sakura looks up at Kakashi, smiling a little. "I've been invited over for dinner at Ino's place. Her parents aren't home tonight and she hates to eat alone. Since Sasuke is no longer available to either of us, we've become quite better friends than we used to be." Sakura stares openly into Kakashi's eyes for one moment and can see the doubt and fear in them, she can't hold the glare much longer, feeling a bit too guilty for deceiving him like this.

"Anyway, I'm sorry, maybe tomorrow evening?" she asks, being careful to put a hopeful tone in her voice. Kakashi nods. "Sure, then I'll pick you up at seven?" he asks, trying not to think the worst of this situation. Sakura nods and skip walks passed the man. "I'll see you tomorrow, Kakashi!" she says happily, kissing him on his mask-concealed face. After that the runs down the street and knocks on Ino's door. Ino is quick to open and this time, she freely hugs the girl in front of her.

Kakashi feels fear downing in his guts as he walks passed them, the two seem a bit too comfortable around each other just to be friends.

Sakura looks around as Kakashi leaves, taking a deep breath as he goes.

The game has started, now there is no turning back.

~to be continued


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